I wasn't saying that all 15 year olds do is be a packet sniffer; Katz was. I was merely trying to point out the absurdity of generalizing the few cases you see in the media to the entire population. I was pointing out the fact that "boys will be boys" and that hellraizing is not a new thing brought about by the "technoloical revolution".
And, for the record, if I had a choice between my kid being a packet sniffer or a doper, I'd choose the sniffer every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Yes, it's illegal, but at least he's not killing brain cells in the process.
Do you think that all 15-year-olds are "writing virii, writing software that negates copyrighting"? Of course not. And neither do I.
Here's my point: Before this "digital revolution", do you think that 15-year-olds were just happy people who only pulled girl's hair? Of course not. They broke windows (like taking down web servers). They spraypainted walls (like defacing websites). They shoplifted (like negating copyright). The fact that they're doing it online now and in a virtual world does not negate the fact that they've been doing this for YEARS.
What, do you think that those kids weren't prosecuted back then? Of course they were. And don't tell me that real-world crime has lighter ramifications; I think it's the other way around. Get caught cracking somebody's computer, get your computer use restricted for a couple of years and put on probation. Get caught breaking a window, and you pay for the window. Which would you rather have?
I don't know where Katz gets the idea that teenagers today are any different than when he was growing up. The idea that 15-year-olds are rebellious, that they don't always think through the consequences of their actions, and that they are cocky SoBs is NOT a new idea.
Think about it; when you were 15, what did you do? I'm willing to bet you snuck out of your house to go make some hell on the town, just like today's kids sneak down to their daddy's computer to do some packet sniffing. I'm willing to bet that you told your parents that you were going to a friend's house but instead went out joyriding with friends, just like today kids say they're using the 'net to "just look around" when they're downloading the latest 0-day exploits.
Come on, let's keep things in perspective here. Just like Brittney Spears, it's the same song, just with a different group of backup singers.
Do you really think it will be that way? You really think that the police will "swarm" you? You really think that they are going to rely SOLELY on this software and nothing else?
If there's a crime halfway across the nation and then there's a match on you, do you honestly think that they're going to bother you? Of course not.
What's more likely to happen is this: Your face gets identified as a "Bad guy". The police come up to you and ask to see your ID, and say, "Somebody resembling you has committed a crime, are you willing to answer a few questions?".
Now imagine this: there is no software, they simply looked at a "Wanted" poster and saw the resemblance. Come on, get a life and stop worrying that "they're out to get you" and "my privacy will be demolished".
Oh, one more thing: quoting a bunch of authors while not spelling things correctly does NOT make you seem intelligent; it makes you seem stupid.
Did you know that fingerprint analysis is now being done by computer? Can you believe this? Computers are fallible, you know! Let's say that I have very similar fingerprints to a murderer; the computer software matches my print up to the print taken from the scene. I am then pursued as a criminal. They have no trouble finding or capturing me, because I'm not on the run and I am innocent. After questioning me, they realize their mistake and I am released (although I missed a bit of work because of it).
Give it a rest, already. This is NOT a threat to you, and one error does not make the system flawed.
Police followed a false lead on a murder case today. While questioned a good friend of the deceased, the friend informed police that the deceased had an argument with a co-worker two weeks ago. The two had made up in the interim time, but the argument was quite heated.
Police found a co-worker, who immediately cooperated with the police, and found his alibi to be foolproof; he had never met the deceased.
Police intent to keep using the technology known as "following leads" despite its obvious shortcomings.
We have a guy who gets tagged as a demo person in a trial version of some new hardware. Kinda like being sent one of those "You may already be a winner!" envelopes; you didn't ask for it to happen, but it happened, and so be it.
Now, somebody sees you on national television (kinda like actually WINNING the prize) and decides that you owe them money (which happens a lot to lottery winners).
So the police come in, question the guy, and find out that nothing's really going on, that it was just a case of mistaken identity. Big freaking deal.
Ask yourself this: would you care at all if some other schmuck in Florida was walking down the street, somebody thought that he was their long-lost ex-husband who had been negelcting the children, and reported them to the police, only to find out it was mistaken identity? Of course not.
But because this was done using some new technology that hasn't been perfected yet, and because in some Orwellian universe this technology may be able to infringe upon privacy, well, it's important.
I can't believe that anybody is surprised by this ruling. I mean, it's obvious to anybody who follows the tech news (especially slashdot) that the judicial system is completely blind when it comes to the true nature of technology and its uses.
I'm not at all surprised that judges think that open source enthusiasts are pirates; Think about the rallying cry, "Information wants to be free!" To the non-technical audience, that means "I don't want to pay for my information!"
Our only hope is to get this kind of stuff into mainstream media with the correct terms applied, so that the public can be educated.
These judges didn't "take a stand" against "workplace monitoring", Michael. These judges wanted to download MP3s, view porn, and watch videos. That does NOT mean that they disagree with monitoring, they just wanted to get around it.
Don't try to make this out to be more than it really is. This is just a bunch of co-workers using their own smarts to get around the IT department.
I don't have a problem with the TV listings reporting inaccurate information, I have a problem because NBC will start their programs at "9:00 NBC time", which is about "8:58 TLC time", so I miss the end of Junkyard Wars as well as the beginning of Weakest Link. It's good to know that TiVo has this problem, too, because that is further discouraging me from actually buying one of those things.
I was wondering if the stations put out some special carrier signal that said "program starts now" that the TiVo could recognize, but it sounds to me like it's similar to a cron job.
There was an article over on Kuro5hin.org that discussed this very thing. Have a look; it's quite well done.
I personally have a box very similar to that at home. It's a Windows 2000 box (stop throwing things at me!) that has an ATI All-In-Wonder Pro inside of it, a huge 40 GB hard drive (the only reason it's not a Linux box; older BIOS couldn't recognize the large HDD), a PII 233, 128 MB of RAM, and a TV-out so I can view it on the big screen. It captures directly into MPEG-1 format, at about a Gig per hour (which can be further trimmed down by DiVX for archival purposes). The ATI drivers even have a scheduler, so you can say "I want to record channel X for Y minutes on Z date" and it will do it for you.
It's not quite as elegant as a TiVo, but it is highly adaptable, and can be used all over the world. It just takes a bit more time to set up, and a bit of a hacker mentality in order to deal with all the problems that arise (especially cutting off the beginning and ends of programs... Does TiVo have this problem?)
What's wrong with not knowing what channel you're watching? Does it really matter that it's on NBC, or CBS, or BBC? If it's a good television show, they're going to watch it.
Maybe we're now moving to a time when all the companies will merge together and begin concentrating on actually providing quality television, rather than scrambling for ratings.
I hope that, in the future, there is only one or two channels that show us quality television all the time. Especially the news. The fewer people that are reporting the same stories, the better quality those stories will be.
Think about it; how many channels have a dozen people reporting the news? Tons. And if you could concentrate all those people into one large group and send them out on non-overlapping missions, that would be great! With only one agency reporting the news, it would be more concise, clear, and best of all, not biased at the least in order to get ratings.
First you should contact the authorities, as they would know more about the legal proceedings than you. It's not as simple as extracting vengance, you know...
Stories like yours, in addition to my own logical and philosophical analysis of the purpose and function of labor unions have led me to conclude that Unions are a Good Thing(tm). They help workers to fight for their rights, they give workers something that they can go to when the big bad corporation is mean to them, and they also help in contract negotiations.
However, I do not believe that I could ever personally belong to a Union. I see too many people joining a Union just because they feel insecure. In addition, from the employer's perspective, it seems like the employees do not trust the company. In other words, the Unionized workers are saying, "Mr. Boss-man, we do not think that you treat us well enough, we don't think that you're being fair with us, and we're scared that someday you're going to treat us even worse. That's why we're getting into this gang to fight for our rights". I think that an atmosphere of trust between employers and employees creates a more beneficial and efficient workplace, not one where company and Union workers are put at odds with one another.
In short, Unions are a great idea and are very valuable. Just don't expect me to start paying Union dues anytime soon.
You can't honestly tell me that the original Star Trek was that great. I mean, come on!. It was incredibly cheesy, and every single episode ended up with Kirk getting the hook-up with some freaky alien chick.
I think that what's happening is people are remembering with too much nostalga the old Trek series. It's kinda like whenever I watch Wargames or Tron. Those movies SUCK. Still, though, I get a lot of kicks watching them and I watch them as often as possible.
It's one thing to say "The old series was much better", but it's another thing to say "The old series was better because that's how I remember it".
I would personally love to see an open-source implementation of Ultimate TV, a TiVo clone. I've been wanting to make myself a TiVo for a long time, but have never been able to figure out an easy way to record or play back TV feeds using Linux.
If this thing gets out of the Vaporware stages, I'll enthusiastically support it. I mean, we all have an old computer sitting around that you could put a TV capture card into, so why not make a TiVo clone? It would RULE!
See, there's a problem with this. When people hear the term "Mutant", they think of 1 of 2 things. They either jump right to the X-Men connotation, where people get brilliant (and often unrealistic) powers. The other conclusion that people make is that a "Mutant" is a deformed person, perhaps with 2 heads or a third arm.
But in truth, mutations happen every day inside your own cells. Do none of you remember high school Biology? When the DNA splits into its two components and duplicates itself (which is a beautiful example of the Perfect Design in the universe) then sometimes the DNA is copied incorrectly; Instead of Adanine and Thymine creating a pair, the Adanine couples with a Guanine accidentally. This is known as a mutation, and is usually completely harmless.
The fact that radiation causes mutations in cells should not be surprising; they happen on their own anyways. It's the connotation that comes from using the word "Mutant" that scares me.
I told myself that I would never become a Katz basher, but I really have to think that he missed the boat on this one.
What exactly were you expecting when you went to see this movie? Were you expecting to see deep philosophical concepts, touched off by extraordinary Oscar-caliber acting, with a hint of mystery? Of course not. I could tell you from the trailers that I saw this movie would have none of that. And you know what? That's OK.
Not every movie has to intrigue the viewer. Not every movie has to make you leave humming a tune. Not every movie has to invoke great, deep discussions afterwards. Some movies are entertainment. I saw The Mummy earlier this week. I was expecting to see some good special effects, to be taken along for the ride, and to not have to think too much. And you know what? I enjoyed that movie. It was not a "good" movie in terms of acting, drama, or musical score. But it was entertaining.
Just because we read Slashdot doesn't mean that we expect every movie to be completely believable and tear it apart when it isn't. Sometimes, it's good to turn off the brain, suspend your disbelief, and just watch the fucking movie. Who knows? You might just enjoy yourself.
How often does it need to be said? Ok, say it with me:
The only secure computer is the one that's powered off and unplugged from the wall.
I'm sorry for sounding so skeptical, but I just can't believe that they can make this "secure". And if it's not secure, then it's crackable. If it's crackable, then it's only a matter of time (usually days, sometimes hours) until somebody posts a cracked version on a website.
I understand that it's important to get security, but I think that it's important to keep things in perspective. People should keep working on more and more secure applications. But at the end of the day, nothing is truly secure.
Use the counterexample that police/fire fighters are paid for their time spent, even though they do very little in terms of trying to counteract the occasional crisis that comes up.
I mean, what kind of place would we live in if police only got paid for the arrests they made? That's a rediculous idea.
Look, this might not be news, but I think that if Hemos has a high enough interest in this sort of thing, then Hemos should be able to post whatever the fsck he wants.
I, personally, found the article interesting, and having recently bought a (used) MS Natural Keyboard (only $10!) and seeing the benefit of proper ergonomics, I have to say I wish I had bought it sooner. Unfortunately, my workplace still uses the old style, and it's hurting my wrists as I speak...
This is terrific. Finally, Ximian has some good leadership. This kind of thing will get their stock up and rising, even in this troubling time of economic strife. A radical change like this will energize the Ximian stock, and so...
*whisper whisper*
Wha... I sold that stock last week? Why didn't you... It's climbed HOW FAR?!?! What do I pay you for, anyways!?!?
Nevermind that shit about high stocks. Ximian sucks.
Finally! It's good to see that a korporation (couldn't resist the pun, sorry) is finally getting the message. Linux needs good, stable business applications.
I mean, let's look at the OSen and find out what they're good at:
MacOS: Incredible graphics processing, mainly due to hardware
BeOS: Great graphics, again, and a tight package
*BSD/*nix: Incredible network applications
Windows: Games, games, games.
But what does Linux have to offer? Not a whole lot. Sure, they have ports of networking applications, and a few games that have been (poorly) ported by Loki. But come on... Linux will never be able to compete for a share of the game market. It's just too tough to upgrade a video card when it takes you 3 hours to track down the latest 0.01 BETA source code for the driver.
New business applications can help migrate Linux over to the business desktop; let's hope it stays there.
Slashdot Mirror
And, for the record, if I had a choice between my kid being a packet sniffer or a doper, I'd choose the sniffer every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Yes, it's illegal, but at least he's not killing brain cells in the process.
Here's my point: Before this "digital revolution", do you think that 15-year-olds were just happy people who only pulled girl's hair? Of course not. They broke windows (like taking down web servers). They spraypainted walls (like defacing websites). They shoplifted (like negating copyright). The fact that they're doing it online now and in a virtual world does not negate the fact that they've been doing this for YEARS.
What, do you think that those kids weren't prosecuted back then? Of course they were. And don't tell me that real-world crime has lighter ramifications; I think it's the other way around. Get caught cracking somebody's computer, get your computer use restricted for a couple of years and put on probation. Get caught breaking a window, and you pay for the window. Which would you rather have?
Think about it; when you were 15, what did you do? I'm willing to bet you snuck out of your house to go make some hell on the town, just like today's kids sneak down to their daddy's computer to do some packet sniffing. I'm willing to bet that you told your parents that you were going to a friend's house but instead went out joyriding with friends, just like today kids say they're using the 'net to "just look around" when they're downloading the latest 0-day exploits.
Come on, let's keep things in perspective here. Just like Brittney Spears, it's the same song, just with a different group of backup singers.
If there's a crime halfway across the nation and then there's a match on you, do you honestly think that they're going to bother you? Of course not.
What's more likely to happen is this: Your face gets identified as a "Bad guy". The police come up to you and ask to see your ID, and say, "Somebody resembling you has committed a crime, are you willing to answer a few questions?".
Now imagine this: there is no software, they simply looked at a "Wanted" poster and saw the resemblance. Come on, get a life and stop worrying that "they're out to get you" and "my privacy will be demolished".
Oh, one more thing: quoting a bunch of authors while not spelling things correctly does NOT make you seem intelligent; it makes you seem stupid.
Did you know that fingerprint analysis is now being done by computer? Can you believe this? Computers are fallible, you know! Let's say that I have very similar fingerprints to a murderer; the computer software matches my print up to the print taken from the scene. I am then pursued as a criminal. They have no trouble finding or capturing me, because I'm not on the run and I am innocent. After questioning me, they realize their mistake and I am released (although I missed a bit of work because of it).
Give it a rest, already. This is NOT a threat to you, and one error does not make the system flawed.
Police found a co-worker, who immediately cooperated with the police, and found his alibi to be foolproof; he had never met the deceased.
Police intent to keep using the technology known as "following leads" despite its obvious shortcomings.
We have a guy who gets tagged as a demo person in a trial version of some new hardware. Kinda like being sent one of those "You may already be a winner!" envelopes; you didn't ask for it to happen, but it happened, and so be it.
Now, somebody sees you on national television (kinda like actually WINNING the prize) and decides that you owe them money (which happens a lot to lottery winners).
So the police come in, question the guy, and find out that nothing's really going on, that it was just a case of mistaken identity. Big freaking deal.
Ask yourself this: would you care at all if some other schmuck in Florida was walking down the street, somebody thought that he was their long-lost ex-husband who had been negelcting the children, and reported them to the police, only to find out it was mistaken identity? Of course not.
But because this was done using some new technology that hasn't been perfected yet, and because in some Orwellian universe this technology may be able to infringe upon privacy, well, it's important.
Keep things in perspective here, ok?
I'm not at all surprised that judges think that open source enthusiasts are pirates; Think about the rallying cry, "Information wants to be free!" To the non-technical audience, that means "I don't want to pay for my information!"
Our only hope is to get this kind of stuff into mainstream media with the correct terms applied, so that the public can be educated.
Don't try to make this out to be more than it really is. This is just a bunch of co-workers using their own smarts to get around the IT department.
I was wondering if the stations put out some special carrier signal that said "program starts now" that the TiVo could recognize, but it sounds to me like it's similar to a cron job.
Thanks for the information.
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That's just the way it is
I personally have a box very similar to that at home. It's a Windows 2000 box (stop throwing things at me!) that has an ATI All-In-Wonder Pro inside of it, a huge 40 GB hard drive (the only reason it's not a Linux box; older BIOS couldn't recognize the large HDD), a PII 233, 128 MB of RAM, and a TV-out so I can view it on the big screen. It captures directly into MPEG-1 format, at about a Gig per hour (which can be further trimmed down by DiVX for archival purposes). The ATI drivers even have a scheduler, so you can say "I want to record channel X for Y minutes on Z date" and it will do it for you.
It's not quite as elegant as a TiVo, but it is highly adaptable, and can be used all over the world. It just takes a bit more time to set up, and a bit of a hacker mentality in order to deal with all the problems that arise (especially cutting off the beginning and ends of programs... Does TiVo have this problem?)
------
That's just the way it is
Maybe we're now moving to a time when all the companies will merge together and begin concentrating on actually providing quality television, rather than scrambling for ratings.
I hope that, in the future, there is only one or two channels that show us quality television all the time. Especially the news. The fewer people that are reporting the same stories, the better quality those stories will be.
Think about it; how many channels have a dozen people reporting the news? Tons. And if you could concentrate all those people into one large group and send them out on non-overlapping missions, that would be great! With only one agency reporting the news, it would be more concise, clear, and best of all, not biased at the least in order to get ratings.
I look forward to this Brave New World.
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That's just the way it is
First you should contact the authorities, as they would know more about the legal proceedings than you. It's not as simple as extracting vengance, you know...
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That's just the way it is
Go AT&T!!!
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That's just the way it is
However, I do not believe that I could ever personally belong to a Union. I see too many people joining a Union just because they feel insecure. In addition, from the employer's perspective, it seems like the employees do not trust the company. In other words, the Unionized workers are saying, "Mr. Boss-man, we do not think that you treat us well enough, we don't think that you're being fair with us, and we're scared that someday you're going to treat us even worse. That's why we're getting into this gang to fight for our rights". I think that an atmosphere of trust between employers and employees creates a more beneficial and efficient workplace, not one where company and Union workers are put at odds with one another.
In short, Unions are a great idea and are very valuable. Just don't expect me to start paying Union dues anytime soon.
------
That's just the way it is
I think that what's happening is people are remembering with too much nostalga the old Trek series. It's kinda like whenever I watch Wargames or Tron. Those movies SUCK. Still, though, I get a lot of kicks watching them and I watch them as often as possible.
It's one thing to say "The old series was much better", but it's another thing to say "The old series was better because that's how I remember it".
------
That's just the way it is
If this thing gets out of the Vaporware stages, I'll enthusiastically support it. I mean, we all have an old computer sitting around that you could put a TV capture card into, so why not make a TiVo clone? It would RULE!
------
That's just the way it is
But in truth, mutations happen every day inside your own cells. Do none of you remember high school Biology? When the DNA splits into its two components and duplicates itself (which is a beautiful example of the Perfect Design in the universe) then sometimes the DNA is copied incorrectly; Instead of Adanine and Thymine creating a pair, the Adanine couples with a Guanine accidentally. This is known as a mutation, and is usually completely harmless.
The fact that radiation causes mutations in cells should not be surprising; they happen on their own anyways. It's the connotation that comes from using the word "Mutant" that scares me.
------
That's just the way it is
What exactly were you expecting when you went to see this movie? Were you expecting to see deep philosophical concepts, touched off by extraordinary Oscar-caliber acting, with a hint of mystery? Of course not. I could tell you from the trailers that I saw this movie would have none of that. And you know what? That's OK.
Not every movie has to intrigue the viewer. Not every movie has to make you leave humming a tune. Not every movie has to invoke great, deep discussions afterwards. Some movies are entertainment. I saw The Mummy earlier this week. I was expecting to see some good special effects, to be taken along for the ride, and to not have to think too much. And you know what? I enjoyed that movie. It was not a "good" movie in terms of acting, drama, or musical score. But it was entertaining.
Just because we read Slashdot doesn't mean that we expect every movie to be completely believable and tear it apart when it isn't. Sometimes, it's good to turn off the brain, suspend your disbelief, and just watch the fucking movie. Who knows? You might just enjoy yourself.
------
That's just the way it is
The only secure computer is the one that's powered off and unplugged from the wall.
I'm sorry for sounding so skeptical, but I just can't believe that they can make this "secure". And if it's not secure, then it's crackable. If it's crackable, then it's only a matter of time (usually days, sometimes hours) until somebody posts a cracked version on a website.
I understand that it's important to get security, but I think that it's important to keep things in perspective. People should keep working on more and more secure applications. But at the end of the day, nothing is truly secure.
------
That's just the way it is
I mean, what kind of place would we live in if police only got paid for the arrests they made? That's a rediculous idea.
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That's just the way it is
I, personally, found the article interesting, and having recently bought a (used) MS Natural Keyboard (only $10!) and seeing the benefit of proper ergonomics, I have to say I wish I had bought it sooner. Unfortunately, my workplace still uses the old style, and it's hurting my wrists as I speak...
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That's just the way it is
Jesus Christ. I swear that I didn't check that "anonymous" box. God damn it. The above post belongs to me.
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That's just the way it is
This is terrific. Finally, Ximian has some good leadership. This kind of thing will get their stock up and rising, even in this troubling time of economic strife. A radical change like this will energize the Ximian stock, and so...
*whisper whisper*
Wha... I sold that stock last week? Why didn't you... It's climbed HOW FAR?!?! What do I pay you for, anyways!?!?
Nevermind that shit about high stocks. Ximian sucks.
</humor>
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That's just the way it is
I mean, let's look at the OSen and find out what they're good at:
- MacOS: Incredible graphics processing, mainly due to hardware
- BeOS: Great graphics, again, and a tight package
- *BSD/*nix: Incredible network applications
- Windows: Games, games, games.
But what does Linux have to offer? Not a whole lot. Sure, they have ports of networking applications, and a few games that have been (poorly) ported by Loki. But come on... Linux will never be able to compete for a share of the game market. It's just too tough to upgrade a video card when it takes you 3 hours to track down the latest 0.01 BETA source code for the driver.New business applications can help migrate Linux over to the business desktop; let's hope it stays there.
------
That's just the way it is